The
magic of cinema did not work wonders for the Malayalam film
industry in the first year of the new millennium, when the
sagging fortunes of filmmakers were further eroded with the
box office recording the highest number of flops. It was a
disastrous year with barely a handful of the 99 movies released
managing to set the cash registers jingling. There was a massive
increase in the number of films from 70 in 2000 to around
99 in 2001. But of these, about 49 films belong to the genre
of soft porn. The spiralling cost of star studded films and
their subsequent batttering at the box office pushed the industry
into adult movies. As many as, 24 Malayalam sex films were
dubbed in to Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.

Among the actors Mohanlal and Dileep had the biggest box office
draw. While Mohanlal's 'Ravanaprabhu,' the directorial debut of
Renjith broke all records this year in collection. Dileep, the new
mantra of success in a flop ridden industry continued to hog the
limelight throughout the year with almost all of his films doing
fairly well at the box office. Kakkakkuyil which appeared to be
a combination of several successful films put together, has done
a fabulous business. Mohanlal has made cameo appearances in two
films - Achaneyanenikkishtam and Unnathangalil. The scenes in which
Mohanlal makes a cameo appearance happen to be the most pathetic
scenes in the recent history of Malayalam cinema. The versatile
actor makes a fool of himself by imitating the role of the protagonist
in Narasimham. Why should a multi-faceted actor like Mohanlal spoil
his career sticking on to the image, which has already become a
burden for him?

The eagerly awaited film 'Dubai', a six crore venture, which bombed
at the box office was the biggest let down for filmbuffs. Rakshasarajavu,
another Mammootty starrer was lapped up by audiences across the
state. Dileep's Parakkum Thalika, Thaha's rib tickler was a runway
hit. Despite the lack of Sibi touch, 'Ishtam' worked cause the high
voltage play off between Nedumudi Venu and Dileep. Suresh Gopi's
Saiver Thirumeni and Randam Bhavam sank without a trace while Meghasandesam
and Sundarapurushan notched up average collections.

Jayaram who has essayed the role of Karunan Master in 'Theerthathadanam'
the cinematic adaptation of M T Vasudevan Nair's celebrated short
story 'Vanaprastham' continued to protect his own slot as a crowd
puller with the success of Vakkalath Narayanankutty, Naranath
Thamburan, Sharjah to Sharjah and Uthaman. However, the fate of
his latest release, 'One Man Show' is yet to be seen. Kalabhavan
Mani has one super hit to his credi t- Karumadikkuttan. Narendran
Makan Jayakanthan Vaka, directed by Sathyan Anthikkad helped Kunjakko
Boban to make an image switch over.

A morass of mediocrity looms over Malayalam cinema as it has distanced
itself from down-to-earth themes and visuals closely associated
with our life and culture. Much repeated storyline, flawed scripts,
and unprecedentedly exaggerated acting mar Malayalam cinema in
recent times. Whatever quantitative success is being achieved
today is completely negated by the quality of what is being churned
out. It is pathetic and unimaginative stuff tailored for a plebian
audience. Films like Kakkakkuyil and Sharjah to Sharjah prompt
us to think that our mainstream cinema is unable to survive film
plots based on masquerades, mixed identities and impersonation.The
dreadful fascination of viewers towards 'hi-tech' horror movies
is yet another example for the deterioration of sensibility. The
special effects remain on the level of mythological serials being
aired by Doordarshan. Meghasandesam, Aram Indriyam and Bhadra
belong to this genre of films. However, a glimmer of hope was
provided with the appreciation of 'Theerthadanam' Meghamalhar
and Neythukaran.

Caught in the vortex of acute financial crisis, the film industry
seized the opportunity to exploit the visually titillating potential
of nudity, unredeemed by anything artistic. A.T Joy the soft porn
stuff. It is disheartening to note that Kerala State Film Development
Corporation has provided financial assistance to some movies of
this kind. There was a sizable adult market in the B & C centres
in the state whose needs were met adequately because the censors
displayed a degree of leniency. Most often, seperate reels were
shot with the steamy sequences which were not submitted for censorship.
Instead, it found its way into the rural interiors, into the hands
of distributors and exhibitors who have to supply their audiences
with unadulterated sleaze. The presence of Shakeela, the heart
throb of soft porn crazy filmbuffs, accompanied by Maria, Sindhu,
Sajini and Reshma was the selling point of these C-grade films.
The parodic revival of Jayan does not seem to be just a passing
fad. Three films belong to this genre Aparanmar Nagarathil, Dupe
Dupe Dupe and Jagapoga were released during 2001.